


Tea for two

by LilaView



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Edelgard is very tired, Edelgard just really wants them to get along, Ferdinand and Hubert fight a lot, M/M, Tea Parties, but more like enemies to fools in love, kinda like enemies to lovers, mentioned Sylvix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 02:33:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20649764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilaView/pseuds/LilaView
Summary: Edelgard's life had never been easy, but having Ferdinand and Hubert fight around her all the time was definitely not helpful either. So, she decided that it was high time to get them to like each other.---------------------------------------------Spin-off to my fic 'Operation FAART' in which Ferdinand and Hubert accidently occupy a tea party that was prepared as a date for Sylvain and Felix





	Tea for two

She was tired. Oh, so very tired. While she was barely 18 years old, she felt the fatigue of someone who had lived for a thousand years. And she knew that no matter how long she slept, she wouldn’t feel better.

Her struggle usually started every morning before breakfast.

Getting up, getting dressed, walking to the dining hall, meeting up with Hubert and sitting down to have breakfast. Every morning she hoped that this day would be different. Every morning was another let down.

Just a few seconds after starting to eat: the source of her struggle sprinted into the dining hall. He bowed slightly before dropping down on the seat across from her. “Good morning, Edelgard. I’m just a few seconds too late. One day, I’ll surpass you.”, Ferdinand chirped cheerily.

After knowing him basically forever, she usually decided to greet him, but ignore his additions. It was important to keep her sanity. But other than her, Hubert could not ignore Ferdinand being a bit rude.

So, each morning they had the same fight.

“There is no way you will ever surpass Her Majesty.”, Hubert snarled.

To which Ferdinand replied something along the lines of: “Just wait and see. I’m Ferdinand von Aegir and I can do anything.”

To which Hubert replied with an insult like: “I’ll make sure to eliminate you in advance, horse boy.”

At that point Ferdinand usually huffed: “Horses are majestic creatures that deserve nothing but our appreciation. But you wouldn’t know, you smellfungus!”

Considering his lame insult, Hubert would laugh and tell him to “go eat with the horses then, milksop.”

And Ferdinand looked at him offended, clenched his fitsts, while stuttering that he was in fact a very manly man, but you could see a few tears rising to his eyes.

By that Edelgard had usually finished eating, so she would just get up, excuse herself and leave.

In class, they were comparatively calm, but their childish fighting continued during breaks. Edelgard tended to go to to their professor to talk about anything, in order not having to sit between them as they continued to insult each other.

After school, the training grounds were covered in pointless back and forth between them. They couldn’t determine who was stronger than the other, because of their usage of different weapons. Which didn’t stop them from fighting, as Ferdinand was determined to beat Hubert, who had said that he would have to defeat him first before being able to stand a chance against Edelgard.

One day, after Ferdinand had called Hubert a lickspittle, to which Hubert had replied with the words that Ferdinand was nothing more than a cockroach, Edelgard’s anger erupted.

She grunted and thrusted her axe towards one of the targets, barely missing Felix and Sylvain, who had started training, but ended up in a fist fight. And while she stomped outside towards her room, even Felix seemed shocked by her reaction.

After that day she had decided that it was time for these two clowns to get along. She would force them to be friends, even if it killed her.

Seeking advice from Dedue, who had accomplished to make Felix and Sylvain get along, though it just helped a little. He suggested giving them a task to do together. Some actual time spend alone could work miracles.

So, she decided to follow his advice. A miracle was just what she needed.

Gardening was supposed to help best, so one day she pulled them both towards the greenhouse. Telling them that she had something to do for them, she opened the doors only to find a table prepared.

Perplexed, she looked around, if she could find the one responsible for this honestly lovely staged tea party. Since no one came forth, she turned to the two boys, who seemed equally surprised. “You know what? I do not care. You’re going to stay in here until you get along.”, she pushed them inside and slammed the door shut.

Puzzled, Ferdinand looked at the table and then to Hubert, who now that Edelgard was gone appeared quite annoyed. There was a dreadful aura surrounding him and Ferdinand knew that they both thought the same thing: I’d rather die than have a tea with you.

However, since Edelgard basically ordered them to spent time together, there was really nothing they could do about it. After a second, Hubert straightened his back and looked at Ferdinand. 

“Let’s sit down, shall we?”, he said in a voice that send a shiver down Ferdinand’s spine. And because his parents had raised him to be polite, he could do nothing but nodd.

Ferdinand was sitting a bit too uptight on his chair, his hands shaking a bit as he lifted the cup to his lips to take a sip. Being attentively observed by Hubert he just barely managed to drink without choking.

Though they had sat down about a minute ago, Ferdinand felt like they had been in the greenhouse forever. The awkward silence between them was slowly killing him.

Neither of them knew how to start, let alone keep a conversation going with someone like the person sitting in front of them.

After a while, Ferdinand cleared his throat.

“The weather outside is quite pleasant, isn’t it? Considering it’s already September, it’s nice to have another few sunny days until fall actually starts.”, he digged up all the small-talk skills his father had taught him, but sadly they were wasted on Hubert, who clearly did not care for the weather at all.

Frowning, he just answered with a ‘hm’. Another episode of awkward silence stretched into minutes until Hubert sighed.

“I should not question Her Majesty’s orders, but this is an utter waste of time.”, he said and while Ferdinand wanted to agree with him for the first time in his life, he knew that they wouldn’t get away with disobeying.

“We have been fighting a lot lately and I do believe she doesn’t enjoy being around us.”, he winced as he thought about the axe incident, “We should try to make this work, for her sake.”

Baffled by Ferdinand’s surprisingly smart answer, Hubert stopped for a second to think about it before nodding. “Then, do you enjoy your tea?”, he asked smirking as Ferdinand was taking another sip.

“It’s a wonderful blend, honestly. Rich and earthy. Neither too sweet, nor too bitter. The tea leaves were an excellent choice. They compliment the dried berries perfectly. Also, the ideal brewing time was met to the second. Whoever made this tea is a true artist.”, Ferdinand mused before realising that it was Hubert he was talking to. Instantly, his face flushed pink. “Uhm, I mean, yes. Do you like tea?”, he stuttered. 

The way he talked about the tea as if it was some kind of artwork, being passionate about something as stupid as leaf water, made something inside Hubert shift. Also, the way Ferdinand flushed was kind of … adorable? He shook his head.

“I actually prefer coffee, but Her Majesty insists of having tea with me once a week, so I’ve grown used to it.”, he explained. Ferdinand looked at him surprised. “I didn’t knew you had these kind of responsibilities.”, he blurted out before he could bite back his comment.

Hubert laughed. Which sounded frightening at first, but when his laughter ebbed off, a genuine smile remained on his lips. A smile that made Ferdinand’s heart skip a beat.

“What did you think were my responsibilities? Standing behind Edelgard, looking at everyone angrily, and insulting you?”, Hubert sounded honestly amused. “You certainly do always insult me as if you’re getting paid to do it.”, he pouted.

After a second, he started thinking, so finally he added: “Why the weekly tea parties, though?”

The look on Hubert’s face changed. “It’s important for Her Majesty to preserve her impeccable social skills. Also, one of my duties is gathering information, so it’s also an exchange of ideas and thoughts.”, his expression was serious, but Ferdinand was convinced that his gaze softened when he started talking about Edelgard. He seemed happy and for a second Ferdinand wished that someone would talk about him so fondly.

“Lastly, having a routine is equally important to Her Majesty.”, Hubert closed his talk. “You really care about her, don’t you?”, Ferdinand’s blunt answer, made Hubert turn his head away. For the first time in his life he felt flustered.

He cleared his throat. “It is my duty to make sure her life is as easy and pleasant as possible and to always remain by her side.”, he said automatically. It was the only thing he had accepted by his father. A statement that made his position and his reason to live clear.

Ferdinand nodded. “I do understand what you mean. Growing up I was taught that it was my duty to study hard to become the best version of myself, so that I might be useful for Edelgard one day.”

His usual habit of slight oversharing took over again and in his head he was already trying to find a way to talk himself out of this situation, but before he could go on, Hubert started talking again.

“I see. That is most certainly why you started this pointless rivalry.”, he suggested and Ferdinand felt his cheeks grow hot again.

“I can’t offer her guidance, if I’m constantly inferior to her.” Ferdinand’s sounded unusually quiet and vulnerable while rubbing the back of his neck flustered.

“In the end, I believe we have similar motives. Though, you could calm your competitive tendencies every once in a while.”, Hubert said while taking another sip of his tea.

Ferdinand laughed as if he could cover up being embarrassed. “I’ll try to. But we might not be too different from each other.”, he added and his eyes were sparkling strangely passionate again. Hubert couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You might be right, my friend.” Hubert’s words made Ferdinand flush again. He was not used to being talked to so nicely.

So, when the greenhouse doors were pulled open suddenly, he was glad about the interruption.

Felix and Sylvain, who were standing in the doorway, looked at them equally surprised and while Ferdinand did his best to smile apologetic, Hubert just frowned at them.

“Oh, sorry for interrupting.”, Sylvain laughed, “We were told that there was an emergency, but I think that they were just trying to prank us.” Winking at them he turned around and closed the door behind them.

After frowning at the door for another moment, Hubert turned his head to Ferdinand again and his face relaxed into a fond smile. “Where were we?”, he thought for a second before continuing, “Since our common goal is Her Majesty’s success, we might need to work together more frequently in the future.”

Ferdinand, who had accepted by now that his cheeks won’t turn back normal any time soon, nodded excitedly. “To be honest, you are not as heartless and humorless as I thought you would were.”

Hubert chuckled again. “Most people get depressed when talking to me, so your excitement is quite refreshing. And you are not as obnoxious as I thought you to be.”

Epilogue:

Edelgard had gotten what she wanted: they did get along better after their time-out together in the greenhouse. But to Edelgard’s horror, they had grown fond of each other. 

Their usual bickering was replaced by small-talk, inside jokes, and worst of all occasional flirting. Hubert didn’t dare to neglect his duties, but that meant having Ferdinand around more often.

And while Dorothea kept talking about how adorable they were, Edelgard tried to come to the terms with the fact that she was going to spent her life around these two clowns. Who were equally annoying: whether they were enemies or fools in love.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading my fic!
> 
> Also, a big thanks to ao3 user Special_Agent-Washing_Tub for suggesting to write about Ferdibert scene and a huge shoutout and thanks to twitter user @idealistside who helped me lots with the energy between Ferdinand and Hubert and their dialogue!
> 
> So, I hoped you liked my fic; I'd be glad about any comment, also feel free to talk to me about Ferdibert. :D


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